ABOUT
About Barbara Warden
BIO
Barbara Warden was born and raised in New York City. She started Hunter college and soon after moved to California, where she graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor’s major in European history and a minor in fine arts. Several years later, she graduated from the University of Maryland with a Master’s Degree in drawing and painting. She then taught at Catholic University and the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, DC. In addition, she taught at Northern Virginia Community College and the Kingsbury Lab School for children with learning disabilities, where she was a shop teacher.
After a period of being away from her studio, she applied her love of color to fiber for more than a dozen years, winning recognition with her bold designs and unusual use of thread for surface design. She won numerous awards in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Montana.
In 2016, after deciding to take a break from fiber, she returned to drawing. She was invited to be the featured artist for a solo drawing exhibition at the BIGGS Museum of American Art in Dover, Delaware. At the beginning of 2018, she was accepted as a resident fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Later in the year, she was invited by the Delaware Art Museum to be the guest curator for a group drawing exhibit entitled “Impermanence.” Eleven nationally recognized visual artists from the mid-Atlantic region agreed to draw their interpretation of one of the essential tenets of Buddhist philosophy – impermanence – recognizing life’s ephemeral nature.
In 2020, she decided to return to painting.
Photo Credit: Martirene Alcantara
ARTIST STATEMENT
"Let me offer some thoughts about why I draw. For me, it is the basis of visual experience. Its immediacy, spontaneity, and directness allow for quick notations or sustained concentration in a search for resolution. The final drawing stands as its own independent form of expression. It is not preparation for a painting or a piece of sculpture."
"In addition, I value the power of line. A single line on a blank page can become the opening gesture that along with other marks can create texture, depth, mass, and complexity. Experimenting with materials, pushing their boundaries, discovering new textures, new spatial relationships - becomes the thrill of drawing. And the eraser absorbs memory."
"I use many traditional drawing tools and I will make new ones if necessary. Paper – all kinds of paper – is my preferred surface."
EDUCATION
UCLA, B.A. European History and Fine Art
University of Maryland, M.A. Drawing and Painting
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Resident Fellow
Guest Curator, Delaware Art Museum, Drawing
Gallery 50, Rehoboth, Delaware, Representation
BIGGS Museum of American Art, Dover, DE., Solo Exhibit
Studio Artist/Drawing and Fiber
Freelance Photographer
Faculty: Catholic University, Washington, DC
Corcoran School, Washington, DC
Northern Virginia Community College
Kingsbury Lab School, Washington, DC
AWARDS
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Amherst, VA
The Art League. Alexandria VA. Fiber. Functional Art
Rehoboth Art League, DE. Fiber. Best in Show (Mary Trimble Lynch Award)
Rehoboth Art League. Fiber. Juror’s excellence award
The Art League. Alexandria VA. Fiber. Honorable Mention
Delaware By Hand Master. Fiber
EXHIBITIONS
2018
Delaware Art Museum. Guest Curator, Impermanence, Outlooks Gallery, Wilmington, DE
Artist's residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Amherst, Virginia
2017
Anne Arundel Community College MD. Juried. Drawing. February
Camp Rehoboth, DE. Juried. Drawing. March
The Art League, Alexandria, VA. Juried. Drawing. April, July, August, September
Gallery 50, Rehoboth, DE. Invitation. Drawing. May
Rehoboth Art League, DE. Invitation group. Drawing. October
Senator Chris Coons’ Washington DC. Drawing - ongoing exhibit
2016
Senator Chris Coons’ Washington DC office – Drawing - ongoing exhibit
Dana McCabe – Radio Interview “On the Shore”
WHYY Philadelphia PA. Radio Interview
Cape Gazette newspaper interview. Lewes DE
The BIGGS Museum of American Art. Dover DE. Solo exhibit '365: Elements in Time'.
The Art League. Alexandria VA. Tabletop exhibit. Functional fiber art award.
The Art League, Alexandria, VA. Juried, drawing
Rehoboth Art League, DE. Abstract Show. Juried. December
2015
Rehoboth Art League. DE. Courage Unmasked 3'. Chair, artists’ committee
Transformation of radiation face masks into artwork.
Peninsula Gallery, Lewes, DE. Invitation, fiber. Lewes DE
The Art League, Alexandria VA. Juried. Drawing.
City Hall drawing. Group show. Alexandria VA.
2014
The Art League, Juried, Drawings. Alexandria VA
St. Johns College Mitchell Gallery, Drawings, Juried. Annapolis MD
The Frame Shop and Gallery. Featured artist. Drawings. Hamilton MT
Gallery 50. Drawings. Group invitation. Rehoboth DE
Rehoboth Art League. Drawings, Group Juried. Rehoboth DE
2013
Rehoboth Art League. Fine art exhibit. Drawings. Rehoboth DE
St. Johns College Mitchell Gallery. Drawings. Group juried. Annapolis MD
The Art League. Drawing. Group juried. Alexandria VA
The BIGGS Museum of American Art. Drawing. Group invitation. Dover DE
2012
Delaware Center for Contemporary Art. Fiber. Group juried. Wilmington DE
American University Katzen Gallery. 'Courage Unmasked -2'. Group invitation.
Rehoboth Art League. Fiber. Juror’s excellence award. Rehoboth DE
Black Rock Center for the Arts. Fiber. Group juried. Germantown MD
The Art League. Fiber. Group juried ongoing. Alexandria VA
2011
Black Rock Center for the Arts. 'A Tribute to Fiber' Group juried. Germantown MD
Lorton Workhouse Art Center. 'Art of Fiber' Group juried. Lorton VA
The Frame Shop and Gallery. Featured artist. Fiber. Hamilton MT
The Art League. Fiber. Honorable Mention. Alexandria VA
2010 - 2004
Delaware By Hand Master
Delaware Art Museum. Delaware By Hand Masters exhibit. Fiber. Wilmington DE
Delaware Art Museum. 'The Possibilities of Pause.' Fiber juried. Wilmington DE
Rehoboth Art League. Third regional juried exhibit. Fiber. Rehoboth DE
American University Katzen Gallery. 'Courage Unmasked – 1”. Fiber. Washington DC
Missoula Art Museum. Juried auction. Fiber. Missoula MT
Senator Tom Carper’s Washington office. Fiber work exhibited
Rehoboth Art League. Featured artist. Fiber. Rehoboth DE
Print Version